Benefits Bulletin December 2022

Welcome to the Benefits Bulletin!

Our goal with this monthly newsletter is to communicate benefit changes and keep you up-to-date and informed on approaching deadlines.

New Name Coming for the State Health Plan Prescription Drug Benefit

COVA Care, COVA HDHP and COVA HealthAware plan members will see a new name beginning in January for their prescription drug benefit. The Anthem pharmacy benefit manager, IngenioRx, will change its name to CarelonRx on January 1, 2023.

The name change will not impact members’ benefits, coverage, ID cards, or how they fill their prescriptions. Members can continue to fill their prescriptions at any in-network retail pharmacy. They will not need new prescriptions for current medications. Members using home delivery and specialty pharmacies will receive a letter reminding them of the pharmacy name change.

Members will continue to access their pharmacy information through www.anthem.com and via Sydney Health. If members have questions about their pharmacy benefits, they should call the number on the back of their ID card.

Virginia Retirement System Member News

Be sure to read the latest issue of Member News from VRS. Included in this issue is information regarding tips to prevent identity theft, staying on track with retirement savings, and updating beneficiaries. Subscribe to Member News directly for the latest updates.

Change to Family Medical Leave (FML) Measurement Period

Please be advised that the Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) has updated Policy 4.20 - Family and Medical Leave. Effective January 10, 2023, the 12-month measurement period for FMLA will change from a fixed 12-month period based on the Leave Year (January 10 – January 9) to a rolling 12-month period. The rolling 12-month period looks back to the previous 12 months prior to the requested period of FMLA leave in determining the number of FMLA hours available. The amount of FMLA leave available to the employee is determined by the amount of FMLA taken during the previous 12-month period. Each time an employee uses FMLA, the remaining unused balance of available hours is adjusted.

December’s Featured Benefit

This month’s featured benefit is…

Premium Rewards

Premium rewards are reductions in health plan premiums for participants in the COVA Care and COVA HealthAware plans who complete an online health assessment. An employee or their enrolled spouse can reduce the premium by $204 annual ($17/month) or $408 annually ($34/month) for both employee and enrolled spouse if they fulfill the requirements to earn a premium reward. Upon completion, you can anticipate receiving the premium reward in 6-8 weeks. Below is a step-by-step guide to assist you in completing your online health assessment in order to receive your premium reward:

COVA Care Plan:

Here are links to access your COVA Care Health Assessment Navigation Guide for the Sydney Health Mobile App and the Anthem Member Website.

• Log in to www.anthem.com/cova
• Select My Health Dashboard from the top navigation menu
• Select Programs
• Scroll down to locate the WebMD Health Risk Assessment tile, then click “learn more”
• Click “Start your assessment”
• If you have previously completed an assessment, you will see your last score, and a “take it again” button. Click the “take it again” button to begin updating your assessment.
• Click on the “save and finalize” button when you have completed your assessment
• After completing your assessment, you will be asked three questions about Healthy Changes. Click “save and continue” after answering these questions
• One final Feedback question will be asked, then you will click “finish”
• Your new health risk score will appear. Be sure to print your confirmation page, or save a screenshot for your records

You may also access the Health Assessment through the Sydney Health app on your mobile device:

• Log in to the Sydney Health app
• From the Sydney Welcome screen, you can click on the “More” button, in the bottom right corner
• Choose “My Health Dashboard” from the menu list
• Scroll down to the “Featured Programs section”, then click “View All”
• Scroll down and click on the WebMD Health Risk Assessment tile
• Click “Start your assessment”
• If you have previously completed an assessment, you will see your last score, and a “take it again” button. Click the “take it again” button to begin updating your assessment.
• Click on the “save and finalize” button when you have completed your assessment and then “finish”
• After completing your assessment, you will be asked three questions about Healthy Changes. Click “save and continue” after answering these questions
• One final Feedback question will be asked, then you will click “finish”
• Your new health risk score will appear. Be sure to print your confirmation page, or save a screenshot for your records

For COVA Care members with literacy, language, or technological challenges, you may contact Anthem at 1-800-552-2682 for help.

COVA HealthAware Plan:

Here is a link to your Aetna Health Digital Reference Guide.

Accessing from a browser (pages 23-25 of the Aetna Health Digital Reference Guide):

• Log in to your Aetna Member Website on www.aetna.com
• Scroll down until you see “Member Resources” on the right side of the page and click on “Well-being Resources” in this section to open your Member Engagement Platform
• Once the Member Engagement Platform opens, hover over “My Health” in the menu at the top and then click on “Health Assessment”

Accessing from the Aetna Health mobile app (page 37 of the Aetna Health Digital Reference Guide):

• Log in to the Aetna Health mobile app
• Select the Improve tab
• When accessing this tab for the first time, select Get Started
• When accessing this tab after the first time, select Health Survey

For COVA HeathAware members with literacy, language, or technological challenges, you may contact the Aetna Concierge team at 1-855-414-1901 for help.

Update to Annual Leave Policy (4.10) to affect Veterans

Effective 1/10/2023, the annual leave accrual rate for classified employees will now include a veteran’s service in the military, National Guard or Reserves. This change will be in effect starting on 1/10/2023 and will apply to current and new employees. This change will not be retroactive and will apply going forward. Service includes:

• Active duty military;
• National Guard or Reserves active or inactive duty; or
• Full-time State or Federal National Guard duty.

The annual leave accrual rate for classified employees who are veterans will be adjusted based on their total years of service in the military, National Guard or Reserve. Employees must submit Form DD-214 validating their years of service to Human Resources. Human Resources will calculate total years of service by adding to their current state service, the net active service, total prior active service and total prior inactive service from Form DD-214. Human Resources will adjust services dates accordingly based on information from the Form DD-214.

Adjustments to the Leave Eligibility Service Date do not result in service credit for retirement, short term disability, Parental Leave, Service Recognition, FMLA or the calculation of continuous state service.

To submit a DD-214 for adjustment of leave eligibility service date or for questions concerning this change to the annual leave policy, contact Reagan Neese, Leave Specialist.

End of the Year Leave Reminder for Classified Employees

The university’s winter holiday break begins Wednesday, December 21. As we approach the holiday season, please keep in mind that in accordance with Department of Human Resource Management Policy 4.25-Holidays, classified employees must either work on, or be on approved paid leave, the workday before and the workday after the holiday in order to be paid for holiday time.

Classified employees should review their current vacation balance with their supervisor and plan to use vacation hours that will exceed their maximum carry-over limit. Excess vacation hours and the 2022 Personal Day (taken in its full eight-hour increment) must be used on or by January 9, 2023 with the exception of the vacation hours accrued on January 9 for the final pay period (12/25/22 through 1/9/23). These vacation hours will be counted in the new leave year’s total vacation leave balance.

Please have all leave requests for the 2022 leave year entered in MyMadison by Monday, January 9, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. Supervisors will have until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 to approve all requests.

Reminder: Election Day Holiday is a Floating Holiday for the 2022 Leave Year

This is a reminder that as a result of Election Day occurring during the fall academic calendar, the university designated the Election Day holiday as a floating holiday.

The university granted 8.00 hours of recognition leave to all full-time classified staff and A&P Faculty to use at their discretion in its full 8.00 hour increment on or before Friday, December 31, 2022 (date used must be on or before December 31, 2022). This 8.00 hours of additional recognition leave was effective and visible in MyMadison on January 10, 2022. Select the Recognition option in MyMadison to use the leave with supervisor approval.

Questions may be directed to Reagan Neese, Leave Specialist, at neeserw@jmu.edu.

Auto-Escalation January 1, 2023

All Employees who are enrolled in the VRS Hybrid retirement plan that are not currently maximizing the 4% into their voluntary contributions, will have their contribution auto-escalate by 0.5% as of January 1st, 2023. Employees can choose to opt out or manually increase contributions by logging into their DCP account https://accountaccess.icmarc.org/participant/login_vrs.jsp. The deadline to make changes online is December 15th, 2022.

Free Consultation with a Financial Planner

Virginia Retirement System (VRS) Members are eligible for a free 30 minute consultation with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP). This consultation would be focused on your entire household for a comprehensive view of your financial situation and your family’s overall financial wellness.

TIAA Live Webinar

At Your Fingertips: Manage your money from wherever you are

Learn about TIAA’s commitment to digital, and how we’re leveraging the latest technologies in our online and mobile tools to help you save time and achieve financial success while you’re on the go.

December 14 at 3 p.m. (ET), 2 p.m. (CT), 1 p.m. (MT), 12 p.m. (PT)

Need to talk with an expert?

• December 14 -TIAA, Jay Colligan – online scheduling or eugene.Colligan@tiaa.org (virtual)
• January 4 - AFLAC, Michael Glover – michael_glover@us.aflac.com or 540-997-3201
• January 12 - New York Life, Lisa Van Wickler – lvanwickler@ft.newyorklife.com or 434-953-5091
• January 13 - Fidelity, Punchai Paul Vutiprichar - Fidelity scheduling or 800-642-7131 (virtual appointments)

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and warm holiday season!

This bulletin has been brought to you by the JMU Benefits Team. If you have any questions or would like to reach out to us, please give us a call at 540-568-3593, visit us on the web at www.jmu.edu/humanresources/benefits, or email us at benefits@jmu.edu.

Look for the Live Chat on our website and reach one of us instantly!